Adapter for fixture-supporting devices



1927. May 10 c. WHITE ADAPTER FOR FIXTURE SUPPORTING DEVICES Filed March 26. 1921 Patented May 10, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST CANTELO WHITE, 01: NEW YORK. N. Y., ASSIGNOB TO EBEC'1RIC OUTLET COMPANY, IN 0., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ADAPTER FOR FIXTURE-SUPPOBTDIG DEVICES.

electrical appliances demountahly., More 'mnar'his, 1 920, Ser. No. 363.419. The supill particularly, the invention is concerned with adapters for use in association with fixture supporting plugs of the general character described and-illustrated in a copending application for Letters, Patent of. the ,United .States filed by. the present applicant on porting .device shown in said copending application includesahook adapted to engage ;a ,bridge carried with the bracket or appliance to bev supported. In the fixture art, .however, it is not unusual for brackets to .have threaded stems with which the supporting element must be operatively connected .or tobe formed with a plate through which passes a ;stud fo'r'engagement with the supporting element in tie wall. The first .-named type of bracket is generally referred to as the hickey type, while the second named is known ,aisthe center-lmob type. It is the principal objectiof the present invention to ,provideas a simple and inexpensive article of manufacture an appropriate adapter for engagement'with a. demountable fixture supporting plug andvfor operative engagement ;with the-fixture to be supported. For the purposes of this application the two mostusual types of bracket are provided for by adapters designed to accommodate them, although it will be understood as the description proceeds that adapters of other forms but intended for use under corresponding conditions and in similar ways .may be provided by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the .invcntion. It is to be further understood that while. a preferred form of plug for supporting fixtures demountably has been illus trated' and the improved adapters designed for association therewith, the inventive thought is of sufficient breadth to include adapters which might be associated in much the same way with fixture supporting plugs of other character.

. The preferred embodiments of the im'en tion will be described with greater particularity in connection with the drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a view, partly in vertical section and partly in side elevation, of a wall bracket secured to an improved hickey adapter which is engaged with ai removable fixture supporting plug.

Figures 2 and 3 are detail views in plan and front elevation, respectively, of the luckey adapter shown in Figure 1.

vFigure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 but showinganother type; of adapter associated with the plug of Figure l and carrying a center-knob type of plug. a i Figures 5 and 6 are detail views in plan and 'front elevation, respectively, of the adapter shown in Figure 4. 1 While the invention is not concerned with the details of constructionofthetype of fixture supporting plugwithlwhich the improved adaptersare to be associated, it has grown out of the trend of the art towards the de'mountable supporting of fixtures and appliances. While 'many different devices have been proposed for thus-demountably supporting fixtures, the plug a ,.of the type covered by said copending application isthe one with which the improved adapters have been actually placed .in use. This plug a carries one or more curved supporting members a which enter slots provided therefor in a wall receptacle indicated by dotted lines at b. On the body of the plu a is carried an upstanding lug a with whi h may be engaged the usual bridge or strap to be found on the back of many modern brackets. Since it is true, however, that all brackets are not.

provided with such bridges or straps, some provision must be made for supporting all standard forms of fixtures, no matter how constructed, and it is obviously desirable, if not necessary, to make it unnecessary that a ditferent type of supporting plug be manufactured and sold to accommodate each type of bracket. Even if it were practical from the manufacturers and dealers standpoint to put out such different types of plugs for difi'erenttypes of brackets, a severe limitation on the range of usefulness of such plugs would be imposed thereon since difi'erent types of brackets could not then be accommodated by any one plug, and great care would always have to be used in selecting and keeping on hand plugs for different brackets. The present invention seeks to remove these and many other apparent objections to removable supporting devices for fixtures and insure them that broad and universal field of application which they should fill by providing simple and inexpensive and interchangeable adapters which may he quickly and readily engaged with the supporting plug for which they may be designed and u lford the required type of connection for the. bracket to be supported. For any given type of supporting plug, ;uch as the plug 1: illustrated herein, the connecting means for the adapters to be associated thi-rrewith may be of standardized form so that any one of many different adapters may be engaged with such a type of )lug. no matter where found. In realizing this .very important object of the present invention, the two types of adapters c, (l, illustrated in Figures 1v and 4 both have the same form of retaining means for engagement with the plug a. For instance, the adapter 0 is provided in its upper face with a slot 0' which may be passed over the upstanding lug a of the plug a, while the other type of adapter (I is also formed in its upper part with a similar slot (1. This degree of interchangeabih ity of adapters for diflerent types of fixtures is necessary for a successful realization of the requirements of the broad aspects of the present invention. The construction of the bodies of the adapters will depend upon the type of fixture to be accommodated. Provision is made in the illustrated embodiments for the accommodation of a bracket, such as 6, having a threaded stem a for its support and for a second type of bracket j which is carried with a plate f through which passes what is known as a centerlmob g.

The adapter 0 for supporting the type of bracket exemplified at a will be. called for convenience the hickey adapter, since it has been general practice to support this style of bracket by means of a threaded hicln-y. The adapter (I may be stamped from a single blank and be given the form illustrated. wherein there is an upper horizontal section 0", part of which rests on the upper edge of the plug a, a substantially vertical section a in which is drawn and tapped an opening 0 to receive the threaded end a of the bracket 0, and inclined webs c e. :tending from points below near the tapped opening 0 to the lower face of the plug a and terminating in a flanged cross-piece 0 which bears against the face of the plug a and is positioned thereon somewhat by means of the flange c which turns under the lower front edge of the. plug.

The hickey adapter 0 has been described with some degree of particularity. in its preferred form, since, as an article of manufacture, it embodies many advantageous details of construction which tend to cheapness, strength and simplicity.

The other type of adapted (Z illustrated herein for the purpose of indicating the scope of the invention may be not unlike the adapter 0, althou h it is intended .for use'with a center-knob type o'f fiuture. It may be of even greater simplicity and less expensive than the adapter 0. As illustratcd, its upper portion'd is stamped-out .as a plain plate with the slot-drtherein. Integral with its upper section (.1 but extending rlo\\-mvar(lly at right angles thereto is a vertical portion (1, wherein is tapped a hole (1 to receive the'in'ncr threaded end g of the center-knob g. The adapter (1 may have a lower'web portion'ilfbent in wardly from the. vertical section (1 andadapted to have its inner edge rest against the .frontface of the plug:a. I c

This adapter'd, considered as an article of manufacturq'satisfies all of the requirements of cheapness simplicity; 4

Fromjthe'fore tionfthemanner ofv usi'ngjt e improyds adapters br adapters constructed in accordance with the inventive .Q thought ."but desi ed "to acco modate 'otl 'er'types 'of'fiituies, should/be apparent. In the firstf place, it is evident that the plug. a,' considered alone, will support a bridge type'ofbracketwhen the strap" is engaged with'thelug' a. 'If'it; to support a bracket, such as e, having a threaded stem,"on thesame plug'a, the adapter 0 may be readily engaged with the plug by dropping it down over the plug with the lug a extendingnpwardly through the slot 0'. The ro 'oi'tion q'f'allassociated parts may be suc' din after the adapter 0 has been threaded on to .thistem "e" anamgaged with'the'lugd the supporting mem-' bers a of the lug a' ,ma "bef'p'assed into the receptac e'b '.for support' "of the bracket; If it were thought desirable to engage the plug a with the bracket c with some degree of permanency, screws It which" pass through the plug a migh t'be of such length as to engage threaded holes '0' in the transverse bearing strip c of the adapter. lVhen the screws 12. are thus engaged-with the adapter 0, it will bev retained with some degree of permanency on the plug, although for quick interchangeability such screws will not ordinarily be so engaged. While no mention has been made herein of the sli canopy i, it will be understood that sucli canopy might be slidably mounted on the stem of the bracket 5 and fastened in place by a set screw i, as is'the usual practice The manner of using the adapter d will also be clear. Ordinarily it will be engaged with the lug a and the plug a forced home. The plate f will then be properly positioned and the center-knob 9 passed through the plate and its threaded stem 9 engaged with the. tapped opening d in the front web d of the adapter.

I claim as my invention:

1. An adapter for a demountable electrical connecting and supporting plug for fixtures, the plug having an upstanding lug for engagement with a fixture having a bridge, an inwardly projecting member on said adapter, aslot in said member for detachable engagement with said lug, threaded means on the adapter for supporting the fixture, and means co-operating with the slot for supporting the adapter from the plug.

2. A device for attaching an electric wall bracket to a fixture supporting plug having a hook, the said device having a threaded portion for engagement with the bracket, an extension above the threaded portion ha"- ing a slot for engaging the hook of said fixture plug, and an extension below the threaded portion having a bearing surface to prevent sagging of the device below normal position when attached to the hook of said fixture plug.

3. A one-piece device for connecting an electric wall bracket to a wall fixture supporting plug having a hook, comprising means for attaching the device to a wall bracket. a slotted portion for engaging the hook of the fixture plug, a bearing surface for engagement with the face of the fixture plug and means for spacing the said engaging means away from the said face of the fixture plug.

This specification signed this 25th day of March, A. D. 1921.

ERNEST CANTELO WHITE. 

